Troubled Existence
by NegativeNarwhalz
Summary: Being toyed by the dead and running with no where to hide ruined Winter's life. What did she do to deserve this? Nothing. Her own existence is a danger to the warriors' world. Cover image drawn by me.
1. Prologue

**Dino: Hello. Call me Dino... The Deino, it's the best name right?**

**NegNarwhalz: I'll just volunteer as the second person.**

**Dino: And here comes the disclaimers that should've come.**

**NegNarwhalz: I don't get it...**

**Dino: That's the whole point... Well I don't own Warriors. If I did... heh... heh**

* * *

**Prologue**

"I have bad omens Swiftreed." Flashpaw mewed, dipping his head.

Swiftreed growled and glared at him with sharp green eyes. "You always have these omens, I'm afraid you aged over me by thirty moons!" She snorted, Flashpaw opened his mouth to protest but she continued. "Additionally most of your prophecies and omens are absolutely _false."_

"This one is true I promise!" Flashpaw winced.

Swiftreed stared at him intently before meowing. "Then prove it."

Flashpaw sighed gratefully and beckoned for Swiftreed to follow, before leading her to the edge of the moorland. There was a patch of sky which was heavily coated with stars- the sighting place fore Mapleclan, Swiftreed squinted her eyes and looked through, Mapleclan was normal, not a sight of peril to be seen. "I don't see anything." Swiftreed growled impatiently.

"Look over here!" Flashpaw hissed, pointing to a small ivy den well hidden but not too far from Mapleclan's barriers. Swiftreed looked into the ivy den, expecting to see a badger- but to her surprise inside the den was a queen, with three kits by her side.

"I don't see what's so _troublesome_ about loners, I'm sure Mapleclan will drive them out to a place where they can live _happily_." Swiftreed muttered, unsurprised.

"No it's not that." Flashpaw mewed hastily. "I'm quite sure one of these kits is ruining our world's balance." Again sharp eyes pierced him. Swiftreed took a closer look at the ivy den and then silence fell upon them. The few moments of heartbeats seemed to be a whole minute before Swiftreed finally questioned him again, but with a much softer and understanding voice.

"By the world's balance, what do you mean?" Swiftreed asked.

Flashpaw seemed to be confused at himself for a moment. "It means there will be chaos physically and mentally, I suppose perhaps drought, more harsh leaf-bares and even the disbelief of Starclan."

"I do feel something quite... _odd_ coming from one of those kits, like a troublesome aura or so." Swiftreed admitted, Flashpaw seemed pleased by her agreement but it wasn't long before Swiftreed was in a tempered mood again. "What does a kit have to do with the fall of the world?!" She shrieked.

Flashpaw shrugged. "I have no idea too but I do know that so far no damage is being done, but it will be noticed soon. And it will be chaotic. This kit is born cursed and I know it, even Honeystrike knows-"

"Honeystrike knows?!" Swiftreed cut in, shoving her muzzle in his face. "We need to talk to her!" She growled, her gaze flickering rapidly without ease. Flashpaw sighed, beginning to lose his patience.

Suddenly clouds rolled in from the sky casting an ominous wind throughout the border of the moorland and the forest, _bad weather is unusual,_ Flashpaw thought uneasily . A small silver tom dashed in, his spotted pelt was highly easy to spot out in the greenness and brown. "Minnowstreak what are you doing here?" Flashpaw asked carefully, trying not to increase the noticeable panic in the tom's eyes.

"Come follow me, Honeystrike is gathering the cats." Minnowstreak informed them, dipping his head respectfully.

"I knew so!" Swiftreed snickered. Both Flashpaw and Minnowstreak shushed her. They trailed back onto the side of the moorland, seeing couple of cats race past them on their way, it wasn't long before they reached a lake, crowded with many cats.

Honeystrike, the dead deputy of Juniperclan and now one of the most respected cats in Starclan stood on the biggest of many rocks. The starry sky seemed to have lots its stars and now was a horrible obsidian black as Flashpaw glanced at them and gulped.

"Starclan, I suppose you know about our greatest threat." There was a murmur of agreement throughout the cats, which was silenced by Honeystrike's gentle yet strong gaze. Her gaze seemed to travel through the crowd, hushing each cat on its way.

"Was I the last cat to know?" Swiftreed mumbled quietly, loud enough for Swiftreed to hear.

"I suppose." Flashpaw mewed. "I wasn't the first to know."

Before Swiftreed could reply Honeystrike had spoken. "Look into the lake." She informed the crowd, every cat had shuffled towards the lake, evenly spreading out. "Near Mapleclan lies a loner and her kits." She mewed with surprising sympathy.

A beautiful silver she-cat with darker dapples was sleeping peacefully in a cramped but comfortable dirt bedding. The innocence of the kits and the thought that one of them would be a danger to the whole of the warrior's world hurt Flashpaw's heart.

He examined the three kits, two she-kits and a tom. Then Honeystrike mewed. "Getting rid of this kit isn't going to be easy, we know that the kit is the grey she-kit out of the three, and we are going have to _kill_ it." There was a great wince amongst the cats.

"I do know it is against the warrior code but there shouldn't be too much damage if we could wait six moons." Honeystrike added swiftly. "Then we must bring the she-kit's body here and then dispose it in this very lake."

"Why the lake? Is this some kind of tradition?" Swiftreed asked gruesomely.

"The dark forest is toying with us, the warrior code and this kit."

"Why would they do such a terrible thing?! And to a loner's kit?!" Swiftreed cried.

"I do hate this too but I cannot change how the dark forest thinks." Honeystrike mewed, surprisingly calm.

There were more protests among the crowd but they were instantly shushed.

"Do you want this chaos? Or would you rather have a loner's kit die?" Honeystrike mewed in a demanding voice. The cats shifted their paws uncomfortably untio murmuring in agreement.

"Then it is settled, we will warn the warriors when the time has come." Honeystrike declared, seeming relieved being drawn away from the edge of quarrel.

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_**"The chapters will be longer"**_

**~ Fanfictioners**


	2. Allegiances

**Dino: I guarantee no-one is going to bother to read all of this.**

**NegNarwhalz: Dun dun dun! The one and only 'Allegiances!'**

**Dino: These dramatic stuff are not funny more.**

**NegNarwhalz: I know right- Wait what?  
**

**Dino: Well disclaimers: I do not own Warriors, there are no legal rights for a Deino to own Warriors.**

**NegNarwhalz: I can see that.**

* * *

**Allegiances**

**Juniperclan**

Leader: Adderstar- Dark brown tabby tom with lime green eyes

Deputy: Ivymist- Golden spotted she-cat with sharp amber eyes

Medicine Cat: Redrift- Small russet tom with soft pale blue eyes

**Apprentice, Sorrelpaw**

Warriors:

Snowspin- Pale brown she-cat with white spots and underbelly with blue eyes

Drewdrop- White tom with green eyes

Ashwhisper- Small black she-cat with piercing amber eyes

**Apprentice, Rainpaw**

Hazelheart- Golden she-cat with soft amber eyes

Bramblestripe- Ginger tabby tom with warm brown eyes

Sweetrose- Grey-pink she-cat with blue eyes and sharp tail

Embercloud- Russet tom with a black belly and amber eyes

**Apprentice, Goldpaw**

Swiftfoot- Tall beige she-cat with beady brown eyes

Apprentices:

Sorrelpaw- beautiful tortoiseshell she-cat with blue eyes

Rainpaw- dark brown tabby tom with white from face to tail with blue eyes

Goldpaw- russet tom with unique violet eyes

Queens:

Rosebird- Pure white she-cat with big blue eyes, expecting Bramblestripe's kits

Batwing- Dark grey she-cat with soft silver eyes (mother to Adderstar's kits, Cloudkit- long-haired pale gold tom, Rabbitkit- dark grey she-kit, Bluekit- dark brown tabby tom)

Elders:

Sootpool- Black tom with blue eyes and a crushed leg

Snowrift- Pure white she-cat with stunning amber eyes

* * *

**Mapleclan**

Leader: Cinderstar- Silver tabby she-cat with white paws and sharp blue eyes

Deputy: Willowfrost- White tom with silver patches and amber eyes

Medicine Cat: Echoice- Thin grey she-cat with violet eyes

Warriors:

Blossomwhisker- Tortoiseshell she-cat with long whiskers and green eyes

**Apprentice, Russetpaw**

Appletooth- Golden tom with two white paws and yellow eyes.

**Apprentice, Velvetpaw**

Creamcloud- Long-haired cream she-cat with blue eyes

Featherflight- Thin white tom with green eyes

Stormfog- Grey tom with patches with white and grey eyes

**Apprentice, Hawkpaw**

Brookdawn- Brown she-cat with white specks and amber eyes

**Apprentice, Badgerpaw**

Berryshade- Dark brown tom with dark pinkish eyes

Apprentices:

Russetpaw- Ginger tom with reddish-amber eyes and white muzzle

Velvetpaw- Silver she-cat with blue eyes

Hawkpaw- Golden siamese-built she-cat with icy blue eyes

Badgerpaw- Black and white small tom with grey eyes

Queens:

Specklecinder- Grey she-cat with darker specks, expecting Stormfog's kits

Elders:

Tornbliss- Tortoiseshell she-cat with torn ears and sharp blue eyes

Sandfall- Cream tom with pale green eyes

* * *

**Cypressclan**

Leader: Windstar- Pure white thin tom with pale blue eyes

Deputy: Lilygaze- Brown tabby she-cat with soft green eyes

Medicine Cat: Sweettooth- Pale brown long-haired she-cat with amber eyes

**Apprentice, Vinepaw**

Warriors:

Sorrelmoth- Grey she-cat with green eyes

Tulipdrop- cream she-cat with overhanging fur and green eyes

Streamheart- Silver she-cat with piercing dark blue eyes

**Apprentice, Olivepaw**

Flamebelly- White tom with russet belly and muzzle and amber eyes

Harestreak- Beige tom with a darker stripe running down from head to tail and amber eyes

Blacksong- Jet black she-cat with a white face and blue eyes

Rainfrost- silver tom with black patches and blue eyes

**Apprentice, Blazepaw**

Creekwhisker- Blue-gray tom with wet whiskers

Apprentices:

Vinepaw- Tortoiseshell tom with a thin spiky tail and green eyes

Olivepaw- Tortoiseshell she-cat with pale-green eyes

Blazepaw- Ginger tom with piercing yellow eyes

Queens:

Finchflower- Dark brown she-cat with white flecks on flank and blue eyes (mother to Rainfrost's kits, Shadekit- dark brown tom with white flecks, Beekit- silver tabby tom)

Lavendersun- Tortoiseshell she-cat with green eyes

Elders:

Cedarsmoke- Cream tom with a dark-grey muzzle and amber eyes

Dappledrop- Black tom with blue eyes

* * *

**Palmclan**

Leader: Ceruleanstar- ginger she-cat with turquoise eyes

Deputy: Sharkclaw- grey tabby tom with amber eyes

Medicine Cat: Whalewish - Black-blue she-cat with beady blue eyes

Warriors:

Carptail- tortoiseshell she-cat with a plump tail and green eyes

**Apprentice, Charpaw**

Minnowstreak- thin tabby ginger tom with yellow eyes

Rayspin- Black tom with thin fur and blue eyes

**Apprentice, Eelpaw**

Loachclaw- brown spotted tom with amber eyes

Marlinstrike- long-haired black-blue tom with blue eyes

Blueperch- Grey-blue she-cat with piercing blue eyes

**Apprentice, Tetrapaw**

Thornpool- spiky russet she-cat with dark amber eyes

**Apprentice, Arowanapaw**

Wolffang- Silver tom with long foreteeth and amber eyes

Apprentices:

Charpaw- Cream tabby tom with an orange belly and grey eyes

Eelpaw- Sleek black tom with blue eyes

Tetrapaw- Silver tabby she-cat with a pinkish-grey belly and blue eyes

Arowanapaw- big grey long-haired she-cat with amber eyes

Queens:

Daceheart- small silver she-cat with yellow eyes (mother of Marlinstrike's kits, Sardinekit- silver she-cat, Bluekit- blue-grey and white she-cat)

Elders:

Pelicanwhisker- White tom with grey paws and amber eyes

**Cats Outside The Clans**

Winter- dark grey tabby she-cat with a white face and yellow eyes

Bailey- black and white she-cat with blue eyes

Jackal- small black and brown tabby tom with yellow eyes

Meadow- black and white she-cat with yellow eyes

Blaze- light ginger and tan she-cat with amber eyes

* * *

**NegNarwhalz: I hope you'll look forward to Chapter 1 and enjoy it!**

**Dino: Hey I thought you were second person!**

**NegNarwhalz: Who said that?**

**Dino: You did it in the prologue.**

**NegNarwhalz: Well now I am the first person, until you catch me!**

**Dino: Hey come back here!**


	3. Chapter 1

**Dino: Ha gotcha!**

**NegNarwhalz: How... I thought you're blind...**

**Dino: Anyways! The chapters should be about 2,000- 5,000 words long. **

**NegNarwhalz: And now the disclaimers?  
**

**Dino: I noticeably do not own Warriors.**

**NegNarwhalz: Wait! And we'll be editing the Allegiances soon! Well if you're a late reader then don't worry about it.**

* * *

**Chapter 1**

"Meadow, I had the dream about these haunted cats again!" Winter winced as she stretched under the safety of daylight.

Her little sister Bailey eagerly placed her paws on Winter's leafy bedding. "What do they look like?" She asked in an effort to calm her.

Winter shrugged and sighed. "I can't remember." She mumbled flatly. Her smallest yet older brother- Jackal stared pointedly at her in silence before Bailey knocked him over.

"What's with that look Jack?" Bailey teased.

"Don't call me that, it sounds like a _twoleg's_ name." Jackal spat.

"Because it is one." Winter pointed out in Bailey's defense.

Jackal turned red and opened his mouth to retort just when their mother had stood between them.

"Now Jackal, you aren't going to lose your cool to a she-cat now are you?" She meowed.

"Way to go Meadow!" Bailey laughed, before Jackal shot her a venomous glare. Meadow broke into a small smile which suddenly turned into a frown.

"I suggest we move on." She suddenly murmured.

The amusement turned into puzzlement. "Why?" Winter meowed curiously.

Meadow shrugged to the siblings' surprise, they've rarely seen their mother in doubt or confusion. "I-" She began, she paused as if looking for an excuse. "I don't feel safe here."

"But we're going to live here for eternity!" Bailey protested.

Meadow shook her head and nudged Bailey forward. "I don't want to stay here any longer, let's go _now._" She growled boldly.

"_Now?!"_ Jackal and Winter cried in unison.

"Yes and now go!" Meadow hissed, her face dark with a twist of fear and uneasiness.

The siblings glanced at each other before staring at Meadow hesitantly. But Meadow was already on the move, not bothering to look over her shoulder. They hurried over a sandy slope but Bailey had fallen back on the way. Winter and Jackal helped her up before finally catching up to Meadow.

"Are we coming back?" Bailey mewed hopefully. "I hope you're just pranking us." Meadow only shot her a cold look before hurrying her pace.

_I don't see why we're leaving so suddenly._ Winter almost blurted out, but knowing her mother well she kept her mouth shut.

Meadow would occasionally stop so suddenly the siblings would almost crash into her flank, she would sniff the air for a few seconds before emitting a low growl. Jackal cocked his head in confusion and sniffed the air. Winter mimicked him but smelt nothing. "She's probably just overreacting." She whispered into his ear.

"Hey Jack, what are you two talking about?" Bailey asked brightly.

Jackal growled at his nickname and muttered. "She just said that Meadow was overreacting."

Meadow pricked her ears making the siblings flinch but she said nothing and continued on darkly.

They sighed so quietly not wanting to alert their mother, they trudged on in confusion and hope but now they went so far that Winter couldn't see her own home from the height of a mountain. She heard Bailey wince in exhaustion and Winter wished to complain too but Meadow did not stop as if she was eager to pursue whatever she was doing.

"I don't want to get my hopes too up that we're just going on a walk." Winter dared to admit to the eager looking Bailey. Bailey's face seemed to droop down in despair.

"But why does she want to leave?" Bailey questioned in a way as if she already knew the answer.

Winter shook her head. "That's what we want to know."

They've traveled many fox-lengths before Meadow had finally paused not to have a sniff. They've crossed a clearing and soon into a musky-scented hole. "Stay here." Meadow warned.

Before the three could question Meadow entered the suspicious hole, it wasn't long before she came out with a dead badger cub- which made Winter bristle with fear.

"D-did you kill that?" Bailey winced, Winter could see the obvious hint of sympathy and fear.

To her relief Meadow shook her head. "From the scent of this badger it must have died from sickness. And from the scent of this den it must be old- I'm reassured the mother won't come back."

"Take it away!" Bailey demanded, covering her eyes with her paws.

On a different note, Jackal asked calmly. "Are we moving in?"

Meadow nodded and licked each cats' head affectionately before burying the badger afar. Bailey collapsed on the spot from exhaustion and relief, Winter happily dragged her into the badger hole- which fortunately wasn't as gruesome as the badger cub itself.

"It's too cramped for my liking." Jackal complained.

"Then dig for more space you _butt_!" Winter nudged him playfully, Jackal grumbled and obeyed before jumping back with a surprised mew.

"What's wrong?" Winter asked, she saw a tiny pink twig wriggle its way out of the moist dirt. Bailey giggled which was shortly followed by Winter. "You're scared by that?!" They snickered in unison.

Jackal turned bright red. "I was just startled! How about this!" He retortede, swatting the worm which landed on Winter's chest. There was this awful overwhelming fear that urged Winter to avoid the worm and instantly get rid of it. She spat and threw it back on Jackal which he countered with another soft swat. To their mistake it landed on Bailey.

"What was that for Jack?!" Bailey cried in rage before tossing it at Jackal, perfectly pounding his face.

"Don't call me-"

"Now what's with the commotion in here?" Meadow suddenly interrupted, seeming amused yet annoyed at the kit's playfulness. Seeing the Jackal struggling with the worm on his face, Meadow picked it up with her teeth and tossed it onto the grass.

"You could help a little by digging, I'm sure I gave you enough time to get settled." Meadow mewed.

"By settled, you mean we're not coming back?" Bailey winced, the heartbreak all written over her face. Meadow's face broke into a frown which made all of them flinch, it wasn't nice seeing their mother get into a temper.

She growled a warning in her throat. "Get digging, you're old enough now, you're not kits and you should know better to ask me the same questions." They silently obeyed, forgetting their playfulness.

The den was pleasantly big and enough shelter for a moon or two. "Good work." Meadow praised them dully. "It's only evening so we should hunt."

"Hunt?" Bailey mewed.

"You should have learnt to hunt three moons ago." Meadow meowed in obvious disappointment. Jackal looked down in more embarrassment.

"Then you could have told us earlier! We rely on you!" Winter growled rebelliously, _I had enough of you looking down on us!_

Meadow seemed slightly taken aback and she gave Winter a cold and scolding look that bored down on her as if the whole of leaf-bare had fallen on her.

"Let's go." She ordered without a reply, seeming awfully morose and more of a stranger than a mother. Winter was not sure if she should be glad that she made Meadow lose her cool or guilty that she made her own mother seem worse.

Meadow shoved a decently noticeably rock onto the tall grass. "Pretend this is a mouse- before we jump to the conclusions. Now which way is the wind going?" Each cat licked their pads and held it in the air.

"You don't need to that, the mouse would've scented you by now." Meadow suddenly mewed. "Now which way is the wind?"

_You could have given us an explanation!_ Winter thought bitterly, she tried to think logically and tried to feel the wind against her fur, she'd expected Jackal probably had already come up with an answer but it was fortunate her instincts were faster. The wind that sped past her paws seemed to go _down_. She could also scent it was going down due to the rotten scent of the mud stained rock.

"It's going down." Winter declared confidently. A second later Jackal had said the same thing followed by Bailey.

"Good Winter." Meadow complimented her. "You two as well, I suggest you should show more confidence in what you are always about to say." Winter then again felt satisfaction but anger that Meadow had shown less praise to her siblings.

"Now we need to get to it." Meadow meowed. "If the wind is going down which way should we approach it?" She asked as if she was a kit again.

"From the top." Winter muttered in unison while Jackal and Bailey seemed brighter. Meadow didn't seem to notice her loss of enthusiasm.

"Good, what seems loud when you step on it."

"Leaves!"

"Twigs!"

"Rocks!"

"Yes you may now stop, I suppose you know other dangers." Meadow meowed, the siblings nodded. "And now you use the tall grass as an advantage to get as close to the prey as possible. And then pounce!"

"I have a question." Bailey mewed. "What happens if the wind changes direction when you're in the grass?"

"It's either tough luck or you use speed and stealth which can be difficult." Meadow answered, Winter almost sighed that Meadow wasn't harsh on Bailey this time. "Who wants to try first?"

Jackal seemed cool and licked his paws as if he didn't care if he was picked to go first or he didn't want to seem too bubbly and bright. Bailey on the other hand seemed slightly eager and scared but Winter herself felt highly excited. _It's a rock, not an expedition or a super large squirrel!_ She swiftly informed herself.

"Winter, you go first." Meadow mewed in exasperation. Winter felt startled for a moment before focusing on the rock, she fixed her gaze on the mossy and muddy rock. _Meadow probably thought we were so inexperienced that she chose something that stood out, I can't tell if she thinks we're pathetic or if she thought good for us._ Winter suddenly thought, she shook off the doubt and then checked the ground for twigs and rocks, the wind had not changed either so she crept on.

She successfully pounced onto the rock without making a single noise, pretending to bite it hard as if finishing it off- she then held it high proudly, she felt slightly embarrassed as if she reacted this was a superior moment.

Jackal perfected it as well as her and Bailey almost if she hadn't stepped on that twig that mischievously rolled down underneath her paw.

"Flawless, if that were real prey- I'm sure you can hold hunger the night, we'll try that technique on real prey next morning." Meadow meowed in approval.

Bailey seemed pleased and trailed back happily into the den, already curling into a sleep. Jackal already was sleeping peacefully as well as Bailey. Then the shivering feeling came back to her again.

She felt a doubt so big it ran up her spine. Winter didn't want to sleep, it was almost as if she couldn't, but the darkness was already engulfing her, a heavy weight forced her to lie down and close her eyes.

"Are you enjoying your last minutes of living?" Came a snickering voice, it sounded similar, but it was a different cat.

"What do you mean?" Winter growled. "I'll grow up to be a healthy strong cat, as if I'm listening to you."

"Oh really? The grown-up she-cat is a strong and healthy cat, how touching!" Came a different mocking voice.

"And how touching the grown-up she-cat isn't scared!" Winter snapped.

"Oh you'll be scared little Winter, you won't be strong and healthy much longer..." Came the first snickering voice. Winter bristled and all her hearing was replaced with the sounds of heart-beat.

Then she felt claws scrape her pelt, from her face to her paws and tails, the torturing laughs had engulfed her. She should not have felt agony, it surely was a dream- a nightmare. The overwhelming scent of blood filled her nostrils, she couldn't bare it any longer.

"You're our weapon to _Starclan_ Winter, you want to listen to us now do you? You don't want the pain!" Came a voice of a she-cat.

Winter winced, _what is with this 'clan' talk?_ "I don't know what this Starclan is!" Winter retorted, trying to fight back, but all her claws seemed to rake was air, it was almost as if she was always blind.

Then she felt paws on her face, but they seemed warm and caring, then the darkness and twisting laughter turned into the beam of sunlight- the beaming face of Bailey and the bored face of Jackal replaced the darkness that made her cringe.

"You woke up sleepy head!" Bailey mewed happily, she winked at her surprised face. "We're going to try hunt on real prey! We're going to be grown ups!"

Winter grinned happily at the forgotten nightmare and the safety of daylight, she leaped up to her feet and followed Meadow. _It's time to start a new day, I'm not going to let these stupid cats ever scare me again._

* * *

**Dino: I hoped you like it!**

**NegNarwhalz: Review it and like it for me!  
**

**Dino: And me!**

**NegNarwhalz: Oh and if you want to fill a form for upcoming kits, loners, rogues and kittypets please sign this form! (They won't be in the allegiances)!**

Name (If a clancat, please write the warrior name):

Clan (Write N/A if the cat does not have a clan):

Gender (Male or Female):

Position (If you're not a clan-cat, write what you are! For clan cats: Warriors (recommended) or Med Cat):

Family (You can write available clan-cats for a chance to get a chosen parent):

Traits (Write two! e.g Fighting, nice, tracking, etc.):

Disabilities (Write two! e.g Hunting, running, stubborn, etc.):

Other (Write 'yup' if you found this form in the chapter):


	4. Chapter 2

**Dino: Yippee! Chapter 2, let's get into clan life now!**

**NegNarwhalz: Before we start the disclaimers, special thanks to Moonbeam141 & Flight Of The Snowy Owl for reviewing!**

**Dino: I do not own Warriors, I'm sure I'm not part of the Hunter group.**

* * *

**Chapter 2**

Rainpaw shut his eyes and shuffled his paws under his belly for warmth. "Hey Rainpaw! You look like the fluffiest and harmless rabbit!" Goldpaw teased, poking him. He flattened his ears and tried to ignore him but it didn't seem any use.

"Come on Rainpaw, it isn't even close to night yet and I need a little help." Came a softer and familiar voice. Rainpaw stood up and stumbled slightly to see Sorrelpaw.

"Oh, hi Sorrelpaw." Rainpaw mumbled sheepishly, blushing slightly. Sorrelpaw smiled and put her tail on his shoulder.

"Now do you want to help me with something simple?" Sorrelpaw meowed.

He couldn't resist saying no even though it was surprisingly cold for leaf-fall. "Yeah sure." He meowed, not showing much eagerness in his voice compared to what he felt inside himself.

"We only need to pick off the juniper berries, it's been so long since they've been ripe." Sorrelpaw meowed, excitedly looking at the distance. "And it's so sweet of you to help me pluck them off." She winked at him gratefully which seemed to have an overwhelming radiance to it. Rainpaw tried not to blush.

"You like her don't you? Too bad she's a medicine cat." Goldpaw snorted.

"Shut up!" Rainpaw retorted. "I'll get over it, plus- your not really a trustworthy cat."

Goldpaw seemed to be slightly upset. "I really was joking around!" He protested, his haunting violet eyes shining at him with mischief.

"You're a good friend other than the trustworthy part." Rainpaw swiftly added.

"Come on- now go on with your temporary love to pick up the berries!" Goldpaw mewed cheerfully, nudging him forward.

Rainpaw shot him a venomous glare before increasing his pace to catch up with Sorrelpaw. "The wind has been rough recently, how peculiar- we haven't had such strong winds in such a long time." She broke a small smile.

"Well it's bad to have strong winds at a time when picking juniper berries." Rainpaw meowed, trying to sound sympathetic.

"Oh don't worry, that's out of topic- I don't think all the juniper berries would fly off." Sorrelpaw giggled.

Rainpaw then realized that Redrift- the medicine cat, wasn't in sight since the beginning of the morning. "Where has Redrift gone? Shouldn't he be helping us?" Rainpaw questioned Sorrelpaw.

"He went to the moonpool last night with the others, I think he should be back very soon- and he entrusted me to look after Ashwhisper and Bluekit." Sorrelpaw informed him. "He's a cat that knows what he's doing." She added reassuringly.

Rainpaw nodded. "I'm sure almost every cat knows that, considering he has a polite and calm personality."

"Come on there are plenty of juniper berries, we should be plucking a satisfying amount of them." Sorrelpaw mewed. "We should have at least picked up most of them by the end of this moon before they go rotten."

"Why not all of them in one day?" Rainpaw suggested.

Sorrelpaw shook her head and giggled, smiling at him as if he wasn't the first one to ask. "That'll be too much effort in one day, I'm sure your mentor will be getting better tomorrow for some training for you." She informed him.

Rainpaw almost forgot that his mentor- Ashwhisper had gotten sick from an 'outbreak' of minor greencough after visiting Mapleclan a few days ago to request coltsfoot. "Well at least she got sick for something that was worth it, since Bluekit could've died. I couldn't lose another sibling."

"Mmhm. It was really upsetting about your littermates." Sorrelpaw mewed with her teeth clenched on a low branch of a juniper tree. She seemed to struggle slightly at the fact of her height.

"Let me help!" Rainpaw meowed eagerly, reaching up on his hind legs to tug the strong branch, they stumbled slightly as the branch gave a satisfying 'crack' before falling a mouse-length from their paws.

"Thank you Rainpaw, it was sweet of you to help." Sorrelpaw thanked with a smile that seemed to have an angelic radiance to it.

"It was nothing." Rainpaw meowed, clenching his teeth as not to blush. "Now let's move onto the next branch." Sorrelpaw seemed to be slightly picky in which branch to pick.

"Why not choose one and get on with it?" Rainpaw meowed, slightly impatient.

Sorrelpaw again shot him an innocent smile. "Some berries are not ripe, I'm sure they should be at the end of this moon." She informed, pointing her tail to a few noticeable berries, which were a beautiful shade of pale green-blue. "Let's shake the branches this time, it'll be easier and it'll give room to grow more juniper berries in the next many moons." She suggested before Rainpaw began searching for an available branch.

The sun began to sank before they had picked up a satisfying amount of berries, Rainpaw's shoulders drooped down with exhaustion. With a few branches in his teeth, Goldpaw skidded towards him. "They're going to select the cats for the gathering Rainpaw! Maybe you can come this time." He exclaimed cheerfully, his eyes bright with enthusiasm.

"After I get these juniper berries back to the medicine cat den." Rainpaw informed him.

Goldpaw made a frowning face. "Are you really choosing a few berries over a gathering? For the sake of love?" He said in amusement.

Rainpaw placed his paw on Goldpaw's mouth with an embarrassed glare. "She could hear for Starclan's sake!" He growled in warning. Rainpaw continued to drag the branches while Goldpaw made a funny face from a distance. The two had successfully delivered the branches to the medicine cat den. Batwing was there watching over Bluekit while Ashwhisper was taking a nap.

Bluekit lifted his head weakly and it seemed as if they wasn't cured at all. "Why do they look so tired?" Rainpaw whispered to Sorrelpaw.

"They need rest, I'm still helping them with the remainder of their sickness." Sorrelpaw mewed, smiling weakly.

He then heard an conversation by the Big Log, his ears pricked up as he eavesdropped. "I need to make a short announcement in the gathering." Redrift's urgent but gentle voice mewed.

"Very well, after I speak you can get up to talk- I suppose you will be speaking for all the medicine cats?" Adderstar meowed, there was a slurping sound of him cleaning his back.

"Thank you Adderstar, is it time for you to announce the cats coming?" Redrift mewed gratefully, dipping his head.

"Yes I should." Adderstar mewed before leaping on top of the Big Log. "All cats old enough to catch their prey gather beneath the Big Log for a clan meeting!" He yowled in a booming and commanding voice.

Cats instantly shuffled to their paws and sat near the Big Log, their eyes shone at Adderstar eagerly- even Rainpaw himself seemed to gain plenty of energy to gather with them. Sorrelpaw who was tending to Ashwhisper was looking from a distance, her affectionate blue eyes staring from a distance.

"We can't catch prey yet!" Cloudkit squeaked before looking over his shoulder to glance at his sick brother Bluekit. "Is Bluekit coming?" He asked.

"No, now hurry along- you can to the meeting but you can't come to the gathering." Batwing meowed in a motherly tone before urging her kits on.

"That's not fair!" Whined Rabbitkit, casting Bluekit a sympathetic look before bounding into the crowd. Rainpaw broke a small smile that all his siblings from his mother's second litter were cherishing.

"I announce that the juniper berries are all ripe, so our stock is already full of them- thanks to the apprentices for picking them up." Adderstar started. There was a cheer among the crowd.

"No complaints from elders now!" Called a cat in the crowd, intending amusement, there was a laughter and then an apology before Adderstar continued.

"Additionally we will have a gathering- the cats coming are- Redrift, Snowspin, Me, Hazelheart, Sweetrose, Bramblestripe, Goldpaw, Drewdrop and Rainpaw." Adderstar announced, giving an apologetic look to the cats not attending.

_My first gathering!_ Rainpaw felt his heart beat with joy. "Yay we're both coming!" Said Goldpaw who seemed to share his joy, then seeing the sinister grin on his face Rainpaw bristled. "Too bad you and your loverbir-" Goldpaw began but paused when he saw Rainpaw. "Too bad Sorrelpaw isn't coming." He mewed in a more quieter voice.

Sorrepaw had just passed and smiled, casting the angelic radiance again. "Thanks for helping me pick up the juniper berries Rainpaw, be sure to tell me about the gathering when you come back!" She mewed sweetly before walking on. Goldpaw grinned sheepishly but said nothing.

"Come on let's get going we'll be late!" Goldpaw swiftly meowed before nudging Rainpaw playfully. The two bounded after the rest.

"I've never been to the gathering before, it must be fun from the sounds of it." Rainpaw mewed, curiously looking into the darkness of the woods.

"Oh it's fun I tell you! Russetpaw tried to say horrible things about our clan when Badgerpaw from and Olivepaw helped me!" Goldpaw mewed excitedly, shifting his paws restlessly. "And then Olivepaw flipped him! I tell you these Cypressclan cats are amazing!"

Rainpaw broke a grin. "I've never met any cat in another clan, but didn't you get in trouble for Olivepaw hurting him?" He questioned.

Goldpaw shook his head. "It left him a minor ache but I reckon he deserved it.- didn't bother us for the rest of the gathering."

"Yeah no-one dares to ruin Juniperclan's name." Rainpaw mewed, nodded in agreement. "Will he be back again? And if so would he torment us?" Goldpaw shrugged and looked at the starlit sky. It was undeniably beautiful, filled with the pureness of the Starclan cats.

"Are you two done chatting and dreaming? We need to tread water for a bit." Sweetrose suddenly interrupted. Rainpaw jumped at the thought of the cold and merciless water but Goldpaw shot him a reassuring look.

"It's not hard at all, just paddle." Goldpaw mewed, emerging into the shallow water which had a still current. The water was up to Goldpaw's neck and he began to kick his legs and paws- which seemed easy. Rainpaw hurriedly jumped after him, surprised by the weight of the water. He accidentally caught some on his tongue and swallowed it, hoping it would relieve his slightly dry throat.

"Come on Rainpaw, hurry along." Mewed Sweetrose, looking over her shoulder.

Rainpaw's tongue stang with an unbearably saltiness. _Water can't be salty!_ He paddled across the short deepness before reaching the shore, his fur drenched.

"That was horrible!" He spat.

"Well I was slow as you, except I didn't have an as bad of a reaction." Goldpaw admitted.

"Well I swallowed the water! And it was salty!" Rainpaw retorted.

"Don't be mad about that, that was a bit of territory Palmclan gave to us so we could get to the gathering- Snowrift told me. "Arowanapaw told me that Palmclan water was blessed by her Starclan ancestors- therefore making it taste salty to give them more fish." Goldpaw mewed, his eyes beady at the memory of his gathering.

"That sounds weird! And what is an arowana?!" Rainpaw exclaimed.

"I don't really get Palmclan's names but they're all named after fish from non-salty and salty water, I forgot to mention they also have a river in their territory." Goldpaw mewed. "And she said that an arowana is a fish twice her size."

Rainpaw shivered at the thought of being named after something frightening that exists within Palmclan's territory. Then an clearing came in sight, a slightly large and ripe juniper tree stood out in the corner, opposite to an odd pale brown tree with four large messy leaves sticking from each side of it. Then the juniper tree was next to a large cypress that hung over the clearing slightly and an ordinary yet large beautiful orange tree.

"I don't know what these two trees are, and why are they so close to the juniper trees?" Rainpaw asked in a mixture of confusion and excitement.

"They are palm and maple trees, of course the clans are named after them." Goldpaw explained. "In each corner, each territory have a tree that is more common than other trees in their territory." Then it came together for Rainpaw, he did see oak trees and pine trees in Juniperclan but mostly juniper trees.

A silver tabby she-cat stood on a large rock in the corner of which was shaded by a maple tree. She dipped her head respectfully when Adderstar entered and leapt onto a rock with a juniper tree beside it. He dipped his head back and then seemed to wait on the rock.

Then the warriors from Mapleclan and Juniperclan began to exchange greetings and had a friendly chat. "What do we do now?" Rainpaw asked.

"Let's go and have a chat with the other apprentices!" Goldpaw mewed excitedly, disappearing into the crowd with Rainpaw on his tail. Goldpaw seemed to spot a small black and white tom and had no hesitation to run forward to the other apprentice.

"Hey Badgerpaw!" Goldpaw yowled to the tom, skidding to the black and white tom until he was a mouse-length away from him.

"Hi Goldpaw." Badgerpaw mewed, dipping his head politely. Then Badgerpaw noticed him and dipped his head to Rainpaw. "Um, it's nice to meet you- um..." Badgerpaw mewed shyly, unable to think of what to say.

"This is Rainpaw." Goldpaw answered for him.

Badgerpaw smiled weakly. "It's nice to meet you, sorry Rainpaw."

"Why are you apologizing?" Rainpaw mewed in surprise.

"Oh, I was worried y-you were mad that I was hesitant." Badgerpaw mewed, breaking into a slightly bigger smile. "Oh and Goldpaw, I was sorry that my brother was horrible to you yesterday." He mewed, dipping his head as if wanting forgiveness.

"Come on Badgerpaw! It was nothing, Olivepaw already did the work there." Goldpaw meowed, breaking into one of his reassuring grins. Badgerpaw began to smile but then it broke when a ginger tom interrupted.

"Oh so you have another Juniperclan _friend_. I hope he is as pathetic as you." The ginger tom growled with venom, his fur bristling with hostility at the sight of Goldpaw.

"He is Rainpaw and he is more than a friend!" Goldpaw retorted, his innocent violet eyes narrowed and growled.

"And what are you doing to my brother?! Telling him lies that will make him fall in battle I guess." The ginger tom spat.

"Russetpaw." Goldpaw seethed.

"Goldpaw." The ginger tom hissed.

Badgerpaw's face was pale, making him have the appearance of the most tender and gentle mouse. "Come on Badgerpaw, don't get too friendly with them." Russetpaw growled, urgently giving Badgerpaw a look of overwhelming suspicion. Badgerpaw followed almost as if he did so against his own will. He swiftly shot them a sympathetic glance behind Russetpaw's back.

"I don't like that _cat_." Goldpaw spat, his fur still bristling. "So overprotective that he won't even let us talk to my own friend, too bad that Olivepaw wasn't here to show him a lesson."

"I don't like him any more than you Goldpaw." Rainpaw mewed, slightly in shock that the russet tom had stolen their conversation so swiftly. _I know even if Russetpaw decides not to be friendly with us- we couldn't be friends with anyone outside our clan, not even Badgerpaw or a kittypet, and definitely not a loner or rogue. I hope Goldpaw learns it's for the better if we ever have to fight Badgerpaw._ The thought suddenly came to him, trying not to sound as if he was on Russetpaw's side he kept silent.

"Hey Cypressclan is here!" Goldpaw mewed excitedly, a group of intelligent and strong looking cats emerged from the corner overhanging cypress, a sleek white tom leapt gracefully onto the large rock of their corner. The white tom dipped his head to both cats from each clan.

"Hello Goldpaw." Mewed an exotic tortoiseshell tom, his elegant spiky tail was held high and he eyed Rainpaw and Goldpaw in a non-hostile gesture. "Have you met with Olivepaw in the last gathering?" The tom asked.

Goldpaw seemed confused as if he didn't know the tom but he nodded. "Yeah I did meet Olivepaw, but I didn't think I saw you."

"Yeah Olivepaw didn't come this time but she did seem satisfied last time when she came back, she mentioned you and a cat called Badgerpaw." The tom meowed. "By the way I'm Olivepaw's brother- Vinepaw."

"Nice to meet you Vinepaw." Goldpaw and Rainpaw mewed in unison. Vinepaw broke into a neat smile.

"Have you seen Badgerpaw?" Vinepaw asked.

Goldpaw opened his mouth in a form of outrage, "Well he is with his brother- _Russetpaw_." Goldpaw mewed, spitting Russetpaw's name with venom.

Then a musky and fishy scent passed over the clearing, Rainpaw guessed it was Palmclan. "Hiya Goldpaw!" Came a cheerful voice, a silver tabby she-cat bounded towards them. "Remember me? I'm Tetrapaw!"

"Hey Tetrapaw, you're Arowanapaw's sister right?" Goldpaw greeted.

"Yup!" Tetrapaw mewed cheerfully, smiling innocently.

"You sure have a lot of friends Goldpaw." Vinepaw meowed, whipping his spiky tail. Tetrapaw shot him an odd look.

"I haven't seen you." Tetrapaw mewed, examining Vinepaw from head to toe. "You're one of these fancy Cypressclan cats!" She then swiftly exclaimed.

Vinepaw seemed confused and nodded slowly. Goldpaw then turned to speak to Tetrapaw. "I don't see Arowanapaw, I guess she's not here?" He mewed. Tetrapaw shook her head and opened her mouth to speak when a yowl broke across the clearing.

"The gathering is about to begin!"

Adderstar cocked his head to the other leaders, they all nodded and sat patiently on their rocks, Adderstar then scanned the clearing, his gaze burning into each cat. "Thanks to the coltsfoot we gained from Mapleclan, our sick cats were able to recover." He started, dipping his head to a thin silver she-cat which Rainpaw guessed was Mapleclan's medicine cat. "After many moons our juniper berries are ripe, Redrift is glad to lend a few to other clans if urgently needed."

Adderstar then beckoned for Redrift to come up with a nod and the small medicine cat shifted underneath the rock. "I'm afraid that our lives of peace aren't going to last much longer, but at one cost we can stop this upcoming trouble." Redrift announced in a loud voice. There were gasps among the crowd and faces dark with fear except for the medicine cats surprisingly. "Starclan has told me that the very existence of a loner has done this."

The silver she-cat that was leader of Mapleclan looked at Redrift pointedly. "So you're saying that a loner was born and it's interrupting our clan life just by existing?"

Redrift nodded confidently. Even Adderstar himself seemed surprised. "He is true." The thin silver she-cat mewed, her thin violet eyes almost as haunting as Goldpaw's. "The loner is said to be hiding in Mapleclan territory with it's family, not yet to know that it's own existence is a vermin to us. Starclan had hid this from us for a while."

"Because they were good-hearted and didn't want us to kill something so young and innocent, but now we have to." An odd looking black-blue she-cat from Palmclan mewed. "And I believe there is a cat capable of visiting Starclan." The she-cat mewed, seeming out of topic.

"But what does visiting Starclan have to do with anything?" A cat mewed from the clearing.

Then finally a pale-brown she-cat spoke, her amber eyes seemed to pierce every cat. "We need to bring the cat's body to a lake in Starclan I hear, but that is all they had told us. And one cat out of all us can visit Starclan at will without visiting the Mooncliff."

There was a silence among the crowd before Adderstar spoke again. "Cinderstar we will aid you in finding the loner." He offered. Cinderstar gratefully nodded and pointed her tail to a ginger she-cat sitting on Palmclan's corner.

"We are doing well and our rivers and the _sea_ are thriving, Daceheart is now mother to Marlinstrike's kits and we are pleased with what Starclan has brought us." Ceruleanstar mewed, dipping her head for Cinderstar to speak.

"Specklecinder has given birth to a number of healthy kits and we are glad to announce that the outbreak of minor greencough is gone, none of our cats have died and other than that we are thriving of prey." Cinderstar mewed, flicking his tail for the thin white tom to speak on Cypressclan's corner. "Go ahead Windstar."

"We are sad to say that Cedarsmoke had died, he died in peace and tranquillity and I'm sure he lived a long nice life." Windstar murmured, a brief moment of respective silent spread among the crowd. "Like everyone else, our land is thriving."

There was an awful silence as cats unenthusiastically mewed goodbye and fear was written across every cats' faces, including Goldpaw. "Not every gathering is like that is it?" Rainpaw asked.

"Of course not!" Goldpaw winced, his pupils seemed to flash white for a moment. "If we don't kill that cat and find that special cat we'll be dead for sure!"

Rainpaw's eyes shifted down, was his first gathering so fearful? Was it a shame to him? He shook his head and trailed back to his clan. He told Sorrelpaw what happened and she looked down at her paws. Then she gave him a sweet and reassuring smile. "Just trust the older warriors and your instincts, I know this will be solved."

When he awoke the next morning, everything seemed normal- Ashwhisper stared at him silently and still seemed weak. "I'm sorry Rainpaw, I must be inactive for one more day." She rasped. "Go train with Embercloud for one more time."

Rainpaw nodded and padded towards Embercloud who was with Goldpaw, they both seemed to be waiting for him. "Hey Rainpaw! We're going to hunt as much as we can!" Rainpaw grinned and followed Embercloud out of the entrance, he glimpsed Sorrelpaw shaking a ripe juniper tree and continued walking.

"Now avoid adders or any snakes you see, hunt anything else you can find- the forests are still plentiful in the early leaf-fall so now you can start hunting." Embercloud mewed.

"I'm going to the right." Rainpaw mewed, Goldpaw went opposite him and he padded on- sniffing for mice. He felt out of practice not training for a few days, he scented a mouse and then wentinto a hunter's crouch, carefully making his way through the grass he leapt.

Instead of finding the mouse he was expecting he found himself on top of a grey and white she-cat. He dropped his mouth in surprise. "What are you doing in Juniperclan territory?!" He growled.

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**Deino: Whewy! That was a long one! I was meant to do something else but I was worried it would be more than 5,000 words!**

**NegNarwhalz: I can't wait for the reactions!**

**Deino: See you later!**


	5. Chapter 3

**Dino: Chapter 3, here it is!**

**NegNarwhalz: Can't wait for the conflict to be taken seriously!**

**Dino: Now it's Winter's POV.**

**NegNarwhalz: I'm doing the disclaimers! I do not own Warriors OR ELSE ALL THE SHE-CATS WOULD STOP DYING.**

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**Chapter 3**

Blinded by bushes and twigs, it was only lucky that Winter's instincts were faster- she kicked off the great weight off her- forgetting about the mouse she'd almost caught. Winter turned tail and ran, empty-handed.

She'd met up with Jackal, who had a large squirrel in his jaws. "Found anything?" He challenged.

"I've dug up a vole and almost caught a mouse." Winter mewed, glad that she had caught a vole to keep her pride. "Have you checked on Bailey?" Winter questioned, Jackal shook his head.

"Speaking of Bailey, here she is." Jackal mewed, Bailey was also satisfied- holding two mice in her jaws.

"Hunting is so much fun and it's worth it!" Bailey meowed brightly.

"Better not hunt too much before the leftovers are crow-food." Winter joked, Bailey grinned and eyed the distance.

"How are we going to survive leaf-bare when the prey will be scarce?" Jackal winced, looking on the darker side.

"Oh come on Jack, it's not going to be really hard." Bailey snickered, Jackal growled and glared at her and picked up his squirrel before heading to the den.

Winter dug up her decent vole and followed them, Meadow was licking her paw when Winter arrived, she looked at the pile of prey they'd caught and added her vole to it while Bailey added her two mice.

"You did a really good job in catching this much prey, this would last us a while." Meadow mewed in satisfaction. She suddenly pricked her ears and her face twisted into a snarl. "Hide now!" She snapped to her kits. Winter gasped and flew into a nearby bush. Despite her fur being scraped by the twigs and leaves of the bush- Winter managed to have a good area to look without blowing her cover.

Meadow was still alarmed, baring her teeth with her fur bristling. "Come out!" She growled, her claws about to be unsheathed. A tan and ginger she-cat came out among the trees and calmly stepped in front of Meadow.

"I come in peace Meadow." The she-cat mewed, dipping her head.

Meadow's hostility instantly blew away, her fur now lay flat and her eyes were joyful and there was not a slight bit of claws shown. "Blaze! Long time no see!" Meadow exclaimed, she whipped her head in Winter's direction "You can come out." She announced. She cautiously poked her head out and trotted to Meadow's side, being the first cat to come out.

Then Bailey bounded eagerly with Jackal suspiciously trailing behind her. "Are those some young visitors too of yours Meadow?" Blaze questioned, Winter held her breath- trying not to stifle a sigh.

She was glad that Blaze had realized her mistake before anyone had to point it out. "Your kits?" Blaze gasped. "They're already so big! Don't tell me that it has been that long since I've last seen you!"

"They're strong ones." Meadow meowed, puffing up her chest in pride.

Winter felt uneasy as Blaze's warm yet icy gaze travelled to her, they seemed to stare right at her no matter where she faced- intimidating her that her paws were glued to the hard ground underneath her.

She could hear Bailey's light voice, asking Meadow a question. "Who exactly is Blaze and what is she going to do to us?" Bailey questioned.

Meadows ears pricked backwards. "Blaze is a good friend of mine, I trust her completely." She answered before turning to Blaze. "Blaze can you train these kits of mine?" Meadow suddenly mewed.

Winter's legs shook with anxiety, she didn't want to go out somewhere with a stranger she'd met only a couple of minutes ago. She looked at the ground, wishing it would burn underneath the gaze of her sun-colored eyes.

She could see a shiver in Jackal's spine and pure excitement in Bailey's eyes, Blaze shot a smile at her, almost turning her into ice. "What will you be training us?" Jackal questioned.

"Running." Blaze mewed flatly, the littermates glanced at each other in surprise. _Every cat knows how to run, why waste our time on it?_ Winter almost snickered, the same thing was written on Bailey and Jackal, but in different expressions.

Blaze seemed to notice their doubt. "Running can obviously save your life, I promise one time you'll be glad that you know how to run with skill." She swiftly mewed.

Bailey shrugged. "So what exactly will be doing to... er... Run with skill?" She questioned. Blaze broke into a grin.

"Try running from where we're standing to that rock there." Blaze mewed, pointing to a large sloped rock in the middle of the large terrain covered with a heavy coat of leaves and sticks, the area was wide- which was an easy place to run. Winter smirked and snickered in confidence. "Do it without tripping." Blaze added.

Winter instantly burst into a run, to her surprise her paws sank into the leaves, slowing her- and shortly after her astonishment, she tripped and a tiny ridiculous twig. She growled and shook her head vigorously, trying to get up and run. Finally after much effort she managed to stand, breaking into a slower run, she stumbled slightly but managed to make it to the rock.

Jackal was already there, licking his paw in a taunting gesture. Bailey was only a mouse-length away from her, managing to touch the rock. Winter was highly annoyed, being outsmarted by Blaze.

"If you were being chased, you would've been caught by now- and you also tripped, which was quite disappointing." Blaze mewed to Bailey and Winter. Winter let out a low growl, her belly churning.

Then Blaze turned to Jackal. "Not bad, but you still tripped and you were slow enough for a pursuer to catch you." She mewed, Winter was even more annoyed by Blaze's judgement.

"Then why can't you just fight?" Jackal protested, unsheathing his claws.

"Because it's better not to pick a fight, not every cat is good at fighting. Hence you should run, with no hard feelings and no injuries." Blaze mewed smartly. Blaze pricked her ears after she spoke.

"I think I can hear and feel the wind, it feels nice- it can't hurt for another run!" Blaze exclaimed, breaking into another smile. Winter was tormented but agreed.

"How about a one in a forest? It might be better for us, after all- we're _beginners_." Bailey suggested, still bright even after the short judgement.

Blaze nodded her approval, the gentle evening light resting on her light ginger fur. "I'm going to race you Winter, no objections!" Jackal declared, already breaking off before Winter could open her mouth, Winter growled and followed at the same speed- managing to be a paw ahead of Jackal.

At first Jackal was a mouse-length ahead of her, but Winter had sped up- it seemed to repeat, even as they struggled to dodge trees. Jackal burst out ahead of her, poking his tongue teasingly at her- only to hit head first in a tree.

Winter snickered and took her chance, running ahead- she saw the silhouette of Blaze at the other end, and with a great leap she beat Jackal, who groaned in defeat.

"Good job back there, I guess you could outrun a pursuer with that much effort." Blaze meowed with a smile. Winter rolled her eyes, before turning to Jackal with a satisfied grin.

"Beat you! Even when you had a head start." Winter snorted. Jackal turned red with humiliation.

"That's because of that _tree_!" He protested, rubbing his face with his paw.

"That's because you wasted your time poking your tongue at me, that's not my fault." Winter snickered.

Jackal growled and trotted off, his tail high. They'd walk back to Meadow's den, which was in good shape. Meadow aroused drowsily, her thick fur rustling against the dirt walls dug by her kits. Blaze's amber eyes were flashing with uncertainty, which confused Winter.

"So many thanks Blaze, I hope they were not a burden." Meadow sighed, dipping her head in gratitude.

"It was nothing, they're surprisingly quick learners." Blaze mewed with a grin.

"I'm glad, do you want to stay the night? We have plenty of prey." Meadow offered, Winter rolled her eyes- thankfully no-one noticed.

To her surprise, Blaze shook her head. "I'm afraid not, I want to search a shelter for the night- please don't forget I'm a loner." Blaze mumbled.

"Why not stay? I'm sure you can make an exception for yourself, just this one night." Meadow mewed stubbornly.

"I don't want assistance from those who can slow me down." Blaze mewed. Winter almost growled. _Does she really think so lowly of us?!_ Winter almost retorted._  
_

"Very well..." Meadow muttered in defeat, she dipped her head to Blaze and turned her head away, not even glancing at Blaze. Blaze looked at them one more time, smiled and then began to walk into the distance, her tail high and her light ginger and tan pelt began to turn black in the distance, until she was completely gone.

Winter wearily curled into a ball, Bailey was already asleep, her paws rested on Winter's back. Her gentle comforting snore wasn't enough to comfort Winter's fears of the night, she could already hear the strange cats' haunting voices, teasing and harming her.

A shiver went down from her neck to spine and she slowly shut her eyes, her mind tight with fear. "Scared are you?" Came an echoing voice.

"You can't run from us." Came a different taunting voice. "Not even when you're dead." It felt as if Winter's eyes were forced open, she was frozen to the spot- pale silhouettes of cats, their voices haunting and their faces faceless- Winter couldn't shut her eyes, fear weighing down her feet.

"Oh I hear them, do you?" Mewed the first voice.

"Yes I do, wonder if she'll live this one." Mewed another echoing voice. "Well if she doesn't, we can still play- that lake thing is a joke, can't believe Starclan fell for it, such pathetic holy fools." It added. A gruesome guffaw broke out, it kept going- making Winter's ears burst with pain.

Then it stopped, Winter sighed in relief- excited to see the safety of daylight, but instead she saw the ghostly face of Bailey, painted with fear. The moon was still full, high in the sky. Meadow and Jackal bristled, their eyes completely pale and their pupils were a ghostly white.

Winter could instantly tell, it was bad news. "Run!" Meadow shrieked, urging everyone out of the den- she scooped Bailey with her mouth. "Just run!" She cried with her mouth full, glaring at Jackal and Winter, panic in her voice.

Winter barely had time to stir, she had no idea what was happening. Then suddenly the sky seemed to flash red in her view, pain rippled through Winter. "Get the grey one! Hurry!" She heard a yowl from an anonymous cat.

_The grey one?! That has to be me!_ Winter felt hisses and growls of many cats, none were from Jackal, or Bailey, or Meadow. She ran, avoiding trees and unsure of what direction she was going, she hoped that her kin was behind her, but she couldn't hear them- only the pawsteps of strangers.

"We can't fail this _Mapleclan_!" Another cat yowled.

Winter was about to give up, there seemed to be nowhere to hide- she knew these cats were pursuing her, she needed to hide- fast.

She saw a slightly large hole, and she dived into the undergrowth, before collapsing in panic and shock. _This has to be a dream!_ Winter cried, trying to hit herself with her feet, she even bit her paw- yet nothing happened.

Then she heard thundering paws over her, they then quieted, until there was complete silence. A snow white rabbit with bright red eyes glanced at her, before fearfully leaping away- Winter had no intention or interest in catching it, still shocked.

_I'm sure Meadow will look for me in the morning, I'm sure we can reunite in no time._ Winter thought, trying to push away the sudden shock. She wrapped her paws around her chest, closing her eyes- despite her parched throat and empty stomach.

Blaze's words rung in her head. _"Running can obviously save your life, I promise one time you'll be glad that you know how to run with skill."_

There was no cat that haunted her, no haunting voices or sharp claws. It was simply darkness.

Winter awoke, expecting to see Bailey prodding her and the beam of the sun. But then she remembered. Cats were looking for her, chasing everyone away, she was left on her own. No-one was there to help her.

Winter knew, she now had to fend on her own.

Her fur was smothered with dirt, wearily she limped out the rabbit hole, she felt surprisingly icy- instead of the orange and red she usually saw, there was a huge white blanket, balls of white slowly fell down- Winter had never felt so cold. Winter realized what this was. Leafbare.

She could remember the tales of when she was a kit.

_"Where'd you get my name from?" Winter mewed curiously, her large amber eyes glittering with the innocence of youth._

_"No little one." Meadow laughed tenderly. "Do you know what leaf-bare is?"_

_"Isn't it where everything is white? And where it's so boring and so old and cold?" Winter groaned._

_"Well there is one thing I like about leaf-bare." Meadow mewed._

_"You can't like anything about leaf-bare!" Winter snorted._

_Meadow rolled her eyes, before looking at the sky. "I like it's beauty." She whispered._

_"But what does that have to do with leaf-bare? Are you saying that you once thought of naming leaf-bare?" Winter questioned, wrinkling her face at the thought._

_Meadow shook her head and laughed at Winter's suggestion. "Of course not, in fact I had an acquaintance who told me about something similar to leaf-bare."_

_Winter cocked her head to the side in curiosity. "Similar to leaf-bare? You mean something that means leaf-bare?" Winter mewed._

_"Right." Meadow mewed with a wink. "And that is Winter."_

She was standing in what was meant to be her name, and for a moment she was dazzled. She shook her head and growled. _I need to find Jackal, Bailey and Meadow._ She informed herself. Winter felt an aching moment of pain, she tried to push it away.

Winter hesitated, checking her surroundings. The only creatures that accompanied her were a couple of birds, they were unaware of her- and Winter had no interest in them. The trees still had leaves, despite the leaf-fall they'd went through.

Winter's legs shook with despair- the despair of soon knowing that her kin was afar from her. Along with that, Winter felt hope- the hope that she'd be reunited with her kin. She hesitated before yowling. "Bailey!" Her voice split through the trees, birds exploded from their shelters and soon Winter was left alone. She waited a few seconds, yet nothing had happened.

Winter's heart was crushed by the enormous amount of despair. She opened her mouth to yowl again- without hesitation. "Jackal!" She cried. It was the same thing, it seemed so slow- and hope shot away from her.

"M-Meadow..." Winter whimpered weakly. She suspected there was no answer, Winter felt empty- she felt like there was nothing to do, she felt as if there was nothing to fulfill in life, she hoped her kin would find her before she starved. Winter closed her eyes, unable to bear the weight of grief, she curled into a ball and waited.

_Get up you lousy cat, you still have a point to live- don't you know that you're the balance to the lives of cats?_ Came a mystique growl from nowhere, Winter's eyes shot open- the voice was unfamiliar, it certainly wasn't her kin, or one of the haunting cats, nor the cats that had chased her.

It was a white tom, with unrealistic blue, beady and narrowed eyes. "Who are you?" Winter mumbled, avoiding his gaze. The cat stood still, not even blinking.

"You don't need to know, but you can do me a favor- just hurry up and _live_." The tom mewed flatly- before Winter could open her mouth, the tom harshly swiped his paw at Winter, she shut her eyes, too tired to defend herself.

She didn't feel any pain, her heart was beating rapidly with fear. When she opened her eyes, the tom was gone. _It was a stupid illusion, there's no way a cat can look as ridiculous as that._ Winter snorted. Then Winter realized, she felt unintentionally energized.

She blinked and glanced at her paw, it was slightly salted with white powder. Winter then realized Bailey telling her about a white blanket named snow.

_"I can't wait for leaf-bare! I heard that there's fun and powdery white stuff called snow!"_ _Bailey squeaked excitedly, tumbling over the floor._

Winter shook her head, trying to rid of the memories, it was her time to live alone- she needed to defend herself.

She set forward, not daring to look back.

* * *

**Dino: Many apologies on how long it took!**

**NegNarwhalz: We were kinda laz-**

**Dino: SHUT IT! We were just very, very, very busy. *Innocent pose***

**NegNarwhalz: -.-**

**Dino: Look forward to the next chapter!  
**

**NegNarwhalz: So excited! Wonder who's POV it should be next?**


	6. Chapter 4

**Dino: We have Sorrelpaw's POV!**

**NegNarwhalz: We are planning Goldpaw's POV, can't tell when we can fit it in!**

**Dino: Thanks to Pebble for reviewing! If you've got an account, we'd be really happy to tell you what changes we made.**

**NegNarwhalz: Enjoy this chapter!**

**Dino: YOU FORGOT THE DISCLAIMERS- STUPID HEAD!**

**NegNarwhalz: Ugh! No need to rage... Well Disclaimers: I totally do not own Warriors because it's too good for me.**

* * *

**Chapter 4**

Sorrelpaw sat by her den, checking the juniper berries. _Shame we couldn't collect them all, but I'm glad that we managed to collect enough..._ She thought, she glanced down as a drop of snow fell from the tree above her.

"Hey Sorrelpaw!" Came Goldpaw's bright and loud voice. "Rainpaw likes y-"

"Shut up for Starclan's sake!" Rainpaw retorted, bowling over Goldpaw. Sorrelpaw watched in amusement, breaking into a small giggle. She left the two other apprentices to do their daily fight.

She looked at the sky, it was completely clear. Sorrelpaw shifted her gaze to the floor she let out a small sigh, looking at the unfamiliar whiteness underneath her paws. Sorrelpaw stepped into her den, Bluekit was curled into a small fluffy ball, his eyes were still open though. Bluekit was a resemblance to Rainpaw, which was slightly amusing. The only difference was Bluekit was well-mannered and quiet, according to Redrift- it was relieving.

"Good morning Bluekit, how are you? I hope the smell of herbs aren't too bad." Sorrelpaw greeted the little kit.

Bluekit looked at her with innocent blue eyes. "I'm good." He mewled. "I'm used to the herbs, I think I could eat them all without complaining."

Sorrelpaw laughed and shot him a wink. "Want to try?" She suggested. Bluekit shook his head vigorously, flushing a little.

"It was a joke." Bluekit complained politely.

Sorrelpaw smiled a little. "Tommorow you can play in the snow with your littermates, don't catch a cold though." Sorrelpaw mewed.

"I won't, but why does Ashwhisper get to go out earlier than me?" Bluekit whined.

Sorrelpaw shot him a reassuring smile. "That's because Ashwhisper has an apprentice to train and she was less sick than you." She informed him. Bluekit puffed up his cheeks in impatience.

"When I get an apprentice, I'm going to show him everything!" Bluekit squealed, leaping into the air. He let out a cough right after landing.

"Careful there, not all your green-cough is gone yet." Sorrelpaw whispered, gently placing a paw on his forehead.

"I'm not a baby!" Bluekit retorted, Sorrelpaw smiled at Bluekit's stubbornness. She left the den, giving Bluekit a farewell, Rabbitkit and Goldkit were outside, glancing at her with wide eyes.

"Can Bluekit play with us today?" Rabbitkit asked.

"Not yet, it's only another day." Sorrelpaw informed them.

"See, I told you!" Cloudpaw yipped, Rabbitkit glared at him.

"Why not pay a visit?" Sorrelpaw suggested. Without answering, the two kits shot in.

Sorrelpaw almost jumped when Adderstar yowled. "All cats old enough to catch their prey gather beneath the big log for a clan meeting!" Sorrelpaw walked over and sat on a clump of left over leaves. Cats were slowed by the weight of snow underneath their paws, they hastily ran to the center of camp, sitting on a comfortable spot.

Batwing and her kits refused to leave the medicine den and watched from there, whilst every other cat curiously stared at Adderstar.

Goldpaw let out a loud yawn, causing a few cats to shoot a glare at him.

Adderstar waved his tail, next to him was Ivymist, who waited patiently for Adderstar to speak. "According to Redrift, we must destroy a vermin to help all clans. We shall depart to Mapleclan as allies to assist them." Adderstar announced, with a flick of his tail.

Rosebird, who was sitting in the right of the crowd opened her mouth to speak. "But if all warriors were to go, us queens, kits and elders would be left alone to defend ourselves."

Adderstar eyed her before mewing again. "Snowspin, Swiftfoot and Dewdrop will stay." He announced.

Redrift suddenly raised his voice. "I'll stay too."

Adderstar hesitated before nodding. "We'll depart once everyone is well fed." He mewed, before leaping off and padding towards his den. A murmur rippled through the crowd instantly, as if hesitant or excited to assist Mapleclan.

"Do we have to help Mapleclan? Surely they can find a single cat on their own." Sorrelpaw heard Sweetrose snicker.

"I agree with you, but that cat could be anywhere." Embercloud mewed, a hint of amusement in his voice.

Sorrelpaw padded to Redrift, who was pulling out a thorn out of Dewdrop's paw.

"Yowch!" Drewdrop cried, almost making Sorrelpaw jump.

Redrift noticed her. "Oh hello Sorrelpaw, what do you want?" He mewed as if Sorrelpaw was rather an apprentice training to be a warrior rather than a medicine cat.

"Am I going to Mapleclan?" Sorrelpaw questioned, Adderstar hadn't mentioned her name to stay but when Redrift pointed out he wanted to stay, there was a possibility that she'd had to stay.

"Yes." Redrift answered with clenched teeth, giving a great tug to the thorn before it was sent flying into nowhere- luckily not in another cat's eye.

Sorrelpaw blinked. "Why do they need a medicine cat?" She questioned.

Redrift looked at her for a moment, and then back to Dewdrop, who was licking his paw wildly. "Because Echoice will be visiting Palmclan to deliver herbs to them and I'll be staying here to watch the cats at the clan, you don't know all the possibilities that could happen." He answered.

Sorrelpaw had a pang of doubt but nodded, _I guess anything could happen- if we'd come unprepared, we might not be able to handle it._ She thought understandingly.

"Sorrelpaw, are you hungry?!" Rabbitkit squealed, bounding wildly towards her. "I caught a butterfly for you!" She showed off a limp butterfly firm on her jaws.

She felt slightly queasy but amused at the same time. "No thanks, maybe Goldpaw would like it, he'd eat anything."

Goldpaw overheard the conversation. "Wha-" he growled before Rabbitkit tumbled over him.

Picking a plump thrush from the pile, Sorrelpaw sat down next to Hazelheart. "Good day." She greeted the golden she-cat, who had a half a rabbit on her paws.

"Good day to you as well." The she-cat replied with a smile. "I have a feeling that someone will be reckless and hurt themselves." Just as she finished speaking, Cloudkit, who was chasing Rabbitkit tripped over a pebble.

"I hurt my face!" Cloudkit cried, clutching his paws to his face.

"Serves you right, I didn't even want to be chased in the first place." Rabbitkit snickered, prodding Cloudkit's body.

"Speak of the devil." Hazelheart sighed, she tossed up the rest of her rabbit in her mouth before walking over to the exit of the camp. Sorrelpaw took quick bites of her thrush before hurrying after her.

"I guess everybody's ready, I suppose?" Adderstar mewed. "Though the chances of finding that cat is low, we have quantity and quality on our side."

"Well spoken!" Ashwhisper praised. Adderstar nodded in gratitude and flicked his tail as a signal to the rest of the group.

Rainpaw fell back next to her. "Is it your first time going to Mapleclan?" He asked.

"No, it isn't, we cross a bit of their territory to visit the Moonpool. It's especially beautiful there in New-leaf." Sorrelpaw replied.

"Oh, I see. Do you go really deep into their territory?" Rainpaw asked.

"No, not at all! That's disrespectful and unnecessary!" Sorrelpaw exclaimed, she noticed the slight disappointment on Rainpaw's face. "Well it'll be nice to see more of Mapleclan." She swiftly added.

It didn't take long to get to Mapleclan, considering that they were neighbours, Sorrelpaw blinked as snow dropped from the withered, small yet overhanging maple trees. Adderstar raised his tail and the group came to a instant halt.

They were in the border, but the row behind Sorrelpaw and Rainpaw were still within unclaimed land. A Mapleclan patrol met Adderstar's eyes. A cream she-cat with blue eyes dipped her head and opened her mouth to speak, but was interrupted.

"What's with all these cats, an attack I suppose? You dirty mangles better get off our territory!" A dark brown cat with pinkish eyes snickered.

"Shut your mouth for Starclan's sake Berryshade, they're here to help, not attack us!" The cream she-cat scolded the dark brown cat.

Berryshade silenced but held his glare. A brown specked she-cat with amber eyes greeted the clan hospitably. "Thank you for coming to help us find this vermin somewhere in our territory, we will gladly escort you to our camp."

"Thank you." Adderstar mewed in acknowledgement. The air was awkwardly silent as the clan was led through withered and yet to wither maple trees.

"I feel a little sick..." Bramblestripe was the first to speak. "What will happen if Rosebird is going to kit in our absence?"

Hazelheart nudged him gently. "She has Redrift to help." She reassured Bramblestripe. Finally the maple trees gave away to a clearing. Every cat in Mapleclan either had a strong or swift build. "Do you think we can trust them?" A small she-kit questioned her mother.

"Of course we can, Littlekit." The queen replied.

"Yeah, Specklecinder's right." Another kit mewed.

Ahead of them, sat Cinderstar- the silver she-cat looked down on them as if they were her warriors. "Adderstar." She mewed, dipping her head.

"Cinderstar." Adderstar replied, dipping her head. "We'll be glad to help at all needs."

"Please note that this alliance will only last a while, so don't get too friendly with us." Cinderstar warned them, narrowing her eyes.

"As if we didn't know." Sorrelpaw heard Rainpaw snicker.

Adderstar nodded. "Should we get going, without further ado?" He mewed.

"Indeed, but on my territory, I'll want my cats to group with yours, I hate to say this- but you can't be trusted." Cinderstar mewed. Her eyes drifted to a tortoiseshell she-cat with unique long whiskers. "Blossomwhisker, go with your apprentice and Brookdawn and her apprentice."

Blossomwhisker obediently nodded. "Don't we have to go with the cats from Juniperclan?" The she-cat asked, there was a slight edge of suspicion and disdain in her voice.

"I'll leave Adderstar to choose his cats." The silver she-cat replied. "Moving on, Creamcloud and Featherflight will go with a group of Adderstar's cats. Finally, Berryshade and Appletooth and his apprentice will go with a group of Adderstar's cats."

"What about me?" A grey tom with white patches winced.

"Stormfog will guard the camp and will alert us if any dangers come near camp, if a strange cat happens to appear in our camp, then you must also alert us." Cinderstar mewed. "If you find any suspicious cat, bring them back **alive**." She added to the rest of the group.

Adderstar nodded. "Sorrelpaw, Sweetrose and Bramblestripe will go with Blossomwhisker's group." Sorrelpaw quickly joined Sweetrose and Bramblestripe's side as the two walked towards Blossomwhisker.

"Let's go right away." Blossomwhisker announced, as Adderstar was mumbling about groups. Sweetrose rolled her eyes at Blossomwhisker behind her back.

"It's like they're leading us to the Dark Forest." Sweetrose whispered to Sorrelpaw. Sorrelpaw nodded, though she didn't agree. She felt hateful eyes behind her back, Sorrelpaw glanced over her shoulder and saw Russetpaw curling his lip, a low growl emitting from his throat."

"What's the matter?" Sorrelpaw asked nicely with a smile on her face.

"Just because you're a she-cat, doesn't mean I'm going to be nice to you." Russetpaw growled.

"Sure." Sorrelpaw replied, not even battering an eye. A small black and white tom caught up to them, which she recognized as Badgerpaw.

"I-I think he's just grumpy today." Badgerpaw mewed fearfully, glancing at his brother with wide eyes.

Russetpaw shot a quick glare at Badgerpaw, making him flinch. Suddenly Blossomwhisker stopped. "What happened?" Sweetrose demanded, sniffing the air cautiously.

"I smell traces of _loners_." Blossomwhisker hissed.

"Now that you mention it, something stinks around here." Brookdawn mewed, wrinkling her nose.

"It's probably that Sorrelpaw's fart." Russetpaw snickered.

"Silence Russetpaw!" Blossomwhisker snapped. _I'm not surprised he'd have that attitude._ Sorrelpaw thought, as she sniffed the ground. The scent was slightly fresh, and had a horrible stench to it. Sorrelpaw held her breath and examined the trail more, the scent then seem to split into two directions, it was more fresh on the left than the right.

"We found evidence pretty quick." Sweetrose remarked as she looked for the beggining of the trail. "If you found anything, I think you better tell Blossomwhisker." She added. Sorrelpaw nodded and padded to the tortoiseshell she-cat.

"Do you need anything?" Blossomwhisker mewed.

Sorrelpaw nodded. "I found something that might be of good use." She mewed. "The trail is more strong on the left than the right."

"Thank you." Blossomwhisker mewed. "But do you think we should still check out the right?" She suggested.

"I guess." Sorrelpaw replied.

Badgerpaw bounded up to them. "Maybe because there is more snow on the right? Because the fresh snow would've blocked the scent." He mewed.

"Good point." Sorrelpaw mewed. "But why would the loner, or loners, I should say, would split into two paths?"

"Duh." Russetpaw interrupted. "It could have been heaps of things, like to find different types of preys, to say departures, whatever. But what's worse is that they went on our territory, they must be so stupid they can't smell our borders."

Badgerpaw frowned. "But how exactly will we know why they separated? It might be important."

Sorrelpaw nodded in agreement. "Before we debate this further, we should tell Brookdawn and Sweetrose." Blossomwhisker mewed. She called out the she-cats' names. Brookdawn and Sweetrose hurried over to them, before Blossomwhisker repeated their conversation.

"I think we should separate into two groups, one on the left, and one on the right." Brookdawn suggested.

"Very well, we thought of that earlier. I'd like Sorrelpaw, Brookdawn and Badgerpaw to go on the right, and as for the rest of us- we'll explore the left." Blossomwhisker announced, no cat objected, Russetpaw let out a groan but didn't say a word.

It was very hard to pick up the scent of loners, despite their stench was rotten and strong, she'd occasionally sway to one direction, then the next. She struggled to keep up with Brookdawn, the snow dragged her down as Sorrelpaw ran to her side. "I can't find anything." Sorrelpaw mewed helplessly.

"Same here." Badgerpaw mewed. "And what if we get lost?"

"We've been walking straight forward the whole time." Brookdawn reassured him. "And we just have to keep looking, for _Starclan's sake_."

Usually when cats said Starclan's sake, it usually seemed to be a joke, but this time it was true, they had to keep looking, and if they didn't find that cat soon, the clans would fall into corruption.

"The snow is heavier than usual, and it only took a day to get this thick." Badgerpaw frowned. Then he added darkly. "If we don't kill that cat soon, it's going to get worse."

Brookdawn suddenly stopped to a halt. "I can't scent the trail at all now!" She wailed.

Sorrelpaw sniffed the ground, she was right, there wasn't a hint of smell anywhere. It stopped at a couple of tiny pine trees, with a few logs and rabbit holes, and there wasn't many maple trees either, which indicated that they were close to the end of Mapleclan territory.

"Hey is that Featherflight?" Badgerpaw mewed excitedly. A white tom was sniffing one of the logs, Sorrelpaw had completely not noticed him. She felt slightly relieved when she saw Ashwhisper and Adderpaw race over to the tom.

"Have you found anything?" She heard Ashwhisper ask the tom. Suddenly Featherflight pulled out a tuft of grey fur.

"I found this." Featherflight mewed.

Ashwhisper sniffed the tuft of fur. "It still has scent on it, but it certainly isn't a clan cat if I don't smell you, it's obviously a rogue or loner." She mewed.

"Isn't that like the other one we found, except it was white?" Adderpaw mewed.

"Then it's probably a grey and white cat." Featherflight mewed.

"But you still can't tell it's the same cat, what if the cat had friends?" Ashwhisper mewed. Featherflight shrugged and opened his mouth to speak.

"Hey Featherflight!" Brookdawn called, the white tom jerked his head swiftly.

"Hi Brookdawn, have you found anything?" Featherflight mewed as he ran over to Brookdawn. Adderpaw and Ashwhisper hurried after him.

"Firstly, where's Creamcloud?" Brookdawn demanded.

"She's still sniffing around where we were searching before, we found something there and now she wants to stay there until she finds something." Adderpaw mewed. He pointed his tail to a clump of trees to his right. "It was in that direction.

"Now we'd like to know what you found." Featherflight mewed.

"We found a scent trail, but then it split, one leading to the right, and one leading to the left. We then seperated into two groups, we went in the right, however it ended and we couldn't find anything." Brookdawn mewed.

"Give me that fur." Ashwhisper mewed to Featherflight. Although confused, the white tom dropped the fur onto Ashwhisper's paws. "So lead me to a strong part of the trail." She mewed.

Brookdawn nodded and ran straight back, with Ashwhisper and Featherflight hard on her paws. "We'll get Creamcloud!" Badgerpaw shouted after them. Brookdawn flicked her tail in acknowledgement.

"Hey Sorrelpaw!" Adderpaw mewed. Sorrelpaw smiled in response.

"I think we should find Creamcloud first before talking about." Sorrelpaw mewed.

"Sorry." Adderpaw mewed, he flicked his tail as a signal to follow. The area which they went into was familiar, there was a tiny maple tree with very thick bark, which Sorrelpaw always recognized on her way to the Moonpool.

"She's somewhere around here." Adderpaw mewed, sniffing the air.

"Were you looking for me?" A voice replied, Creamcloud shot out of a log, startling Sorrelpaw. "I'm sorry, I couldn't find anything." The she-cat mewed, as if knowing what they were going to ask.

"That's alright." Badgerpaw mewed.

"Where did the rest go? And why is Badgerpaw and Sorrelpaw here?" Creamcloud mewed, licking her flank.

"We met them, and we found another piece of fur which smells the same, now they're rushing back to some trail Sorrelpaw and Badgerpaw found." Adderpaw informed her.

"We better go after them, they might have found something." Sorrelpaw suggested. They hurried back, racing straight back on the trail.

"They're probably already found something out." Adderpaw gasped as he struggled through the snow, shortly after, they were enclosed by maple trees, Sorrelpaw recognized Ashwhisper's black fur standing out in the snow.

Ashwhisper swiftly looked over her shoulder, their loud footsteps had alerted her. "Oh it's you." She mewed calmly, her fur lay flat again. "We've found a big chunk to this puzzle." _A big chunk, that sounds promising._ Sorrelpaw thought as she slowed her pace.

"This fur may belong to this trail." Featherflight mewed.

"Cinderstar will certainly be pleased with this." Brookdawn mewed, her eyes glittering.

"There might be more when Blossomwhisker and the rest come back!" Badgerpaw mewed hopefully.

"And they're taking a while, which means they must have at least found something big." Sorrelpaw added. As she finished speaking, she heard huffing and puffing. Sweetrose emerged from the left, her eyes wide with _fear._

"What happened?!" Featherflight demanded, he had smelt Sweetrose's fear.

"F-fox!" The she-cat shrieked. "Two of them!"

* * *

**Dino: Sorry this chapter was soooooooo late!**

**NegNarwhalz: They're never going to forgive us...**

**Dino: Well what we wanted to do, we were hoping to finish this chapter with that fox-**

**NegNarwhalz: Well cliffhanger! Bye!**


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